After my initial anger and frustration, I began wondering, "Why this is?" It does not seem to be income related; it is as likely to happen in Walmart as it is in a fancy restaurant. ( I don't eat in fancy restaurants, but I will stride in purposefully and use their facilities). Some might say that with the proliferation of the auto flush toilet--you know, the ones that scare kids half to death--that the general public simply has forgotten how? Don't give me that crap; we all know how! Anybody have a self flushing toilet at home? Perhaps it could be the icky factor, the "I don't want to touch that!" feeling.
If this is the case, and I think it is, let me tell you that even that problem can be overcome. I have perfected the toilet-operation-only-using-my-foot method. I can lift and lower the seat, latch most doors (I am very bendy you know), and flush any public toilet using only the sole of my shoe. I am not germaphobic or anything. I needed to develop these techniques overseas and have applied them back here at home. Maybe we need to start teaching a similar technique in school?
If you are interested in a blog on public toilet issues and the danger, or lack of danger they possess, check this link. There are even retrofit products to make foot flushing easier. Until a perfect solution is discovered, whatever method you use, PLEASE FLUSH THE TOILET!
P.S. I wrote this blog in July and left it to be published in case I was unable to get a connection once a week or if I simply didn’t have time to write. Neither turned out not to be the case, but I feel this blog is even more appropriate now have circumnavigated the globe for the past month. I can now state definitively that this is not a north American issue but a global one. I can also state now that not flushing is far from the worst toileting behaviour someone can have. During the 54 hours I spent on a bus, the word “flush” was never spoke because it was never an issue. (There was nothing to flush!) The word “sit” was not something you would hear either. Even “ditch” was optional; any location two meters from the bus door was an acceptable bathroom, it seemed, and even that was not necessary if you were under 10 years old.
After returning to Beijing, I had some great discussions about introducing the composting toilet to China and India. My aunt has been using a Clivis Multrum for just about 30 years, and my cousin has been using one with a family of 5 for about 15 years. At this stage I think anything would be better than nothing! If we can’t learn to flush, perhaps we can learn to compost.
P.S. I wrote this blog in July and left it to be published in case I was unable to get a connection once a week or if I simply didn’t have time to write. Neither turned out not to be the case, but I feel this blog is even more appropriate now have circumnavigated the globe for the past month. I can now state definitively that this is not a north American issue but a global one. I can also state now that not flushing is far from the worst toileting behaviour someone can have. During the 54 hours I spent on a bus, the word “flush” was never spoke because it was never an issue. (There was nothing to flush!) The word “sit” was not something you would hear either. Even “ditch” was optional; any location two meters from the bus door was an acceptable bathroom, it seemed, and even that was not necessary if you were under 10 years old.
After returning to Beijing, I had some great discussions about introducing the composting toilet to China and India. My aunt has been using a Clivis Multrum for just about 30 years, and my cousin has been using one with a family of 5 for about 15 years. At this stage I think anything would be better than nothing! If we can’t learn to flush, perhaps we can learn to compost.
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